Mobile fair takes aim at high roaming charges

March 1, 2012
by Katell Abiven

A tourist talks on a mobile phone at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro on February 17 ahead of the two-day carnival parade. The world's biggest mobile fair this week urged operators to convert "silent roamers" or travellers who stop using their phones once abroad for fear of a massive bill.

The world's biggest mobile fair this week urged operators to convert "silent roamers" or travellers who stop using their phones once abroad for fear of a massive bill.

If unlocked, the market could be worth a massive 1.5 billion euros ($2.0 billion) in Europe alone.

"I know that 40 percent of mobile customers are nervous about using data services abroad," said European Commissioner of New Technologies Neelie Kroes at the Mobile World Congress.

"Because, with EU roaming prices still so high, they know they could be in for a nasty surprise when they open their bill," she added.

Telecommunications operators apply a so-called roaming surcharge when a mobile telephone is used abroad. The bill could therefore be enormously high if a user keeps a smartphone constantly connected to the internet while overseas.

"We probably have two-thirds of the people here who have turned off their data, because they're scared to death of the roaming prices, and we're talking about people from the telecom world!" noted Glenn Gordon, chief executive of Syniverse, which deals with roaming issues for 700 mobile operators across the world.

While some just disable their data function, others stop using their phones completely.

According to Syniverse, out of 75 million people who travel to another country in a month, close to 70 percent never use the data service and half make no calls at all.

The high roaming costs of using smartphones and tablets across the European Union are to be slashed under a new plan issued on Wednesday to give users greater choice in a more competitive, regulated market.

On the theory that a driver who knows when a red light will turn green is more relaxed and aware, vehicle manufacturer Audi is unveiling this week in Las Vegas a technology that enables vehicles to "read" traffic signals ...